The present invention relates to flea chitinase nucleic acid molecules, proteins encoded by such nucleic acid molecules, antibodies raised against such proteins, and inhibitors of such proteins. The present invention also includes therapeutic compositions comprising such nucleic acid molecules, proteins, antibodies, and/or other inhibitors, as well as their use to protect an animal from flea infestation.
Flea infestation in animals is a health and economic concern because fleas are known to cause and/or transmit a variety of diseases. Fleas directly cause a variety of diseases, including allergies, and also carry a variety of infectious agents including, but not limited to, endoparasites (e.g., nematodes, cestodes, trematodes and protozoa), bacteria and viruses. In particular, the bites of fleas are a problem for animals maintained as pets because the infestation becomes a source of annoyance not only for the pet but also for the pet owner who may find his or her home generally contaminated with fleas. As such, fleas are a problem not only when they are on an animal but also when they are in the general environment of the animal.
Bites from fleas are a particular problem because they not only can lead to disease transmission but also can cause a hypersensitive response in animals which is manifested as disease. For example, bites from fleas can cause an allergic disease called flea allergic (or allergy) dermatitis (FAD). A hypersensitive response in animals typically results in localized tissue inflammation and damage, causing substantial discomfort to the animal.
The medical importance of flea infestation has prompted the development of reagents capable of controlling flea infestation. Commonly encountered methods to control flea infestation are generally focused on use of insecticides. While some of these products are efficacious, most, at best, offer protection of a very limited duration. Furthermore, many of the methods are often not successful in reducing flea populations. In particular, insecticides have been used to prevent flea infestation of animals by adding such insecticides to shampoos, powders, collars, sprays, spot-on formulations, foggers and liquid bath treatments (i.e., dips). Reduction of flea infestation on the pet has been unsuccessful for one or more of the following reasons: failure of owner compliance (frequent administration is required); behavioral or physiological intolerance of the pet to the pesticide product or means of administration; and the emergence of flea populations resistant to the prescribed dose of pesticide.
Insect chitinases play an important role in molting and cuticle turnover by hydrolyzing the structural polymer chitin (poly-xcex2-(1,4)-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine), a principal component of the insect exoskeleton and gut lining. Chitinase activity has been identified in the molting fluids and midguts of several insects; examples include Bombyx mori, Manduca sexta, Aedes aegypti, and the wasp Chelonus. Chitinase appears to play an important role in insect growth and development; for example chitinase is essential for the removal and remodeling of old cuticle during metamorphosis of insects from one stage to the next. Inhibition of flea chitinase offers the potential of disrupting flea growth and development, thereby killing the fleas. However, development of flea chitinase inhibitors to disrupt flea growth and development, thereby reducing flea infestation, has been hampered by the lack of the appropriate reagent, i.e. flea chitinase.
Prior investigators have described the following insect chitinase nucleic acid sequences: Aedes Aegypti chitinase cDNA, Specht, (1997) et al. direct submission to Genbank, accession number AF02649 1; Manduca sexta chitinase precursor mRNA, Muthukrishnan, (1998) direct submission to Genbank, accession number U02270; Bombyx mori chitinase mRNA, Kim, M. K.et al. (1997) direct submission to Genbank, accession number BMU86876. Prior investigators have also described the following insect chitinase polypeptides: the endochitinase precursor from Manduca sexta, Choi, et al. (1997) Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol. 27(1), p 37-47; chitinase-like protein from Bombyx mori, Kim, et al. (1997), accession number 18418551; chitinase protein from Hyphantria cunea, Kim, et al. (1997), accession number 1841853; chitinase from Aedes aegypti, Specht et al. (1997), direct submission to Genbank, accession number 2564719; chitinase protein from Drosophila melanogaster, Genbank accession number JC4038; chitinase protein from Chironomus tentans, Genbank accession number Y13233; chitinase protein from Chelonus (sp), Genbank accession number A53918; chitinase protein from Anopheles freeborni, Genbank accession number AF026495; chitinase protein from Anopheles gambiae, Genbank accession number AF008575; and chitinase protein from Phaedon cochleariae, Genbank accession number Y 18011.
Identification of flea chitinase proteins and nucleic acids of the present invention is surprising, because overall homology of the flea chitinase to other insect chitinases that have been described is fairly low. The highest identity between a flea chitinase of the present invention and the protein that most closely resembles the flea chitinase in the databases searched is only 64%. Homologies between deduced insect chitinase proteins described to date have typically been greater; for example, amino acid alignment homology of three insect chitinases is 75% between Bombyx mori and Hyphantria cunea, 80% between B. mori and Manduca sexta, and 77% between H. cunea and M. sexta. See Kim, et al., (1998), Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, vol 28 pp 163-171.
Identification of a flea chitinase is also surprising, because of the rarity of the mRNA coding for chitinase from the cDNA libraries made from various larval stages. It has been found that in other insects, expression of chitinase is very tightly regulated, and is restricted to short time intervals, such as when molting events are initiating. Since fleas are so small, and have much less RNA, compared to other insects that are traditionally studied, i.e. Bombyx mori, the silkworm, and Manduca sexta, the tobacco homworm, obtaining sufficient numbers of fleas synchronized to the exact right life stage where chitinase is being expressed is very difficult.
Thus, there remains a need to develop a flea chitinase reagent and a method to protect animals from flea infestation by targeting flea chitinase.
The present invention relates to a novel product and process for protection of animals from flea infestation. Identification of flea chitinase proteins and nucleic acid molecules of the present invention is surprising, however, due to the low degree of homology of flea chitinase to chitinases described from other insects, and due to the difficulty in obtaining fleas in the proper life stage, such that the fleas are expressing chitinase.
According to the present invention there are provided flea chitinase proteins, and mimetopes thereof; flea chitinase nucleic acid molecules, including those that encode such proteins; antibodies raised against such flea chitinase proteins (i.e., anti-flea chitinase antibodies); and compounds that inhibit flea chitinase activity (i.e., inhibitory compounds or inhibitors).
The present invention also includes methods to obtain such proteins, mimetopes, nucleic acid molecules, antibodies and inhibitory compounds. Also included in the present invention are therapeutic compositions comprising a nucleic acid molecule, protein, mimetope, and/or protective compound derived from a protein of the present invention that inhibits the activity of flea chitinase.
One embodiment of the present invention is an isolated nucleic acid molecule that is selected from a group consisting of (a) a nucleic acid molecule that includes one or more of the following sequences: SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:4, SEQ ID NO:6, SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:10, SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO: 13, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:16, SEQ ID NO:18, SEQ ID NO:25, and SEQ ID NO:27; and (b) a nucleic acid molecule comprising an at least a consecutive 18 nucleotide portion identical in sequence to a consecutive 18 nucleotide portion of a sequence as set forth in (a).
In another embodiment of the present invention, an isolated nucleic acid molecule is selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:4, SEQ ID NO:6, SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:10, SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:16, SEQ ID NO:18, SEQ ID NO:25, and/or SEQ ID NO:27; and/or a nucleic acid molecule comprising an allelic variant of a nucleic acid sequence described above.
Another embodiment of the present invention is a nucleic acid molecule which is selected from the group consisting of (a) a nucleic acid molecule that encodes a protein comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:5, SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:14, SEQ ID NO:17 and/or SEQ ID NO:26; (b) a nucleic acid molecule that encodes a protein comprising an at least 25 consecutive amino acid residue portion identical in sequence to a consecutive 25 amino acid residue of a sequence as set forth in (a); (c) a nucleic acid molecule that encodes a protein comprising a fragment of a protein as set forth in (a), wherein the fragment has chitinase activity; and (d) an allelic variant of a nucleic acid molecule that encodes any protein of (a), (b), or (c). Chitinase activity can include binding to a chitin molecule and/or hydrolyzing a chitin molecule. In another embodiment, the nucleic acid molecule is selected from the group consisting of a nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleic acid sequence encoding a protein comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:5, SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:14, SEQ ID NO:17, and/or SEQ ID NO:26, and a nucleic acid molecule comprising an allelic variant of a nucleic acid molecule encoding any of such amino acid sequences.
The present invention also relates to recombinant molecules, recombinant viruses and recombinant cells that include a nucleic acid molecule of the present invention. Also included are methods to produce such nucleic acid molecules, recombinant molecules, recombinant viruses and recombinant cells.
In another embodiment, there is provided an isolated protein that can be any of the following: (a) a protein including one or more of the following amino acids: SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:5, SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:14, SEQ ID NO:17, and SEQ ID NO:26; (b) a protein comprising an at least 25 consecutive amino acid portion identical in sequence to a consecutive 25 amino acid portion of a sequence as set forth in (a); (c), a protein comprising a fragment of (a) above, wherein said fragment has chitinase activity; and/or (d), a protein encoded by an allelic variant of a nucleic acid molecule encoding any of the above proteins. Another embodiment includes an isolated antibody that selectively binds to a protein of the present invention. The present invention also relates to mimetopes of flea chitinase proteins as well as mimetopes of isolated antibodies that selectively bind to flea chitinase proteins. Also included are methods, including recombinant methods, to produce proteins, antibodies, and mimetopes of the present invention.
One embodiment of the present invention is a therapeutic composition that, when administered to an animal susceptible to flea infestation, reduces flea infestation present in said animal. Such a therapeutic composition includes at least one of the following protective molecules: (a) an isolated flea chitinase protein of the present invention; (b) a mimetope of an isolated flea chitinase protein of the present invention; (c) an isolated flea chitinase nucleic acid molecule of the present invention; and (d) a molecule derived from an isolated flea chitinase protein that inhibits chitinase activity. Examples of such protective molecules include, but are not limited to, a substrate analog of flea chitinase, an isolated antibody that selectively binds to a flea chitinase protein, other organic or inorganic molecules that inhibit chitinase activity, a naked nucleic acid vaccine, a recombinant virus vaccine, a recombinant cell vaccine, and a recombinant protein vaccine. A therapeutic composition of the present invention can further comprise an excipient, a carrier, and/or an adjuvant.
Another embodiment of the present invention includes a method to reduce flea infestation in an animal. Such a method includes the step of administering to the animal a therapeutic composition of the present invention.
Another embodiment of the present invention includes a method to identify a compound capable of inhibiting the activity of flea chitinase. Such a method includes the steps of: (a) contacting an isolated flea chitinase protein of the present invention with a putative inhibitory compound under conditions in which, in the absence of the putative inhibitory compound, the protein has chitinase activity, and (b) determining if the putative inhibitory compound inhibits chitinase activity.
In another embodiment of the present invention, an assay kit is provided to identify an inhibitor of a flea chitinase. The assay kit comprises an isolated flea chitinase protein of the present invention and a means for determining inhibition of an activity of flea chitinase. Such a means enables the detection of inhibition, wherein detection of inhibition identifies an inhibitor of flea chitinase activity.
The present invention provides for isolated flea chitinase proteins, isolated flea chitinase nucleic acid molecules, isolated antibodies directed against flea chitinase proteins, and compounds able to inhibit flea chitinase function (i.e., inhibitory compounds). The present invention also provides for methods to reduce flea infestation by administering to an animal susceptible to flea infestation a therapeutic composition derived from a protein of the present invention, and methods to identify an inhibitory compound capable of inhibiting the activity of flea chitinase. As used herein, the terms isolated flea chitinase proteins and isolated flea chitinase nucleic acid molecules refer to chitinase proteins and chitinase nucleic acid molecules derived from fleas; as such the proteins and nucleic acid molecules can be isolated from fleas or prepared recombinantly or synthetically. Flea chitinase nucleic acid molecules of known length isolated from Ctenocephalides felis are denoted xe2x80x9cnCfCHT#xe2x80x9d, for example nCfCHT2610, wherein xe2x80x9c#xe2x80x9d refers to the number of nucleotides in that molecule, and CHT proteins of known length are denoted xe2x80x9cPCfCHT#xe2x80x9d (for example PCfCHT583) wherein xe2x80x9c#xe2x80x9d refers to the number of amino acid residues in that molecule.
Flea chitinase proteins and nucleic acid molecules of the present invention have utility because they represent novel targets for anti-arthropod vaccines and chemotherapeutic drugs. The products and processes of the present invention are advantageous because they enable the inhibition of arthropod development, metamorphosis, feeding, and/or digestion processes that involve chitinase proteins. Chitinase activity has been identified in the molting fluids and midguts of several insects, as mentioned previously. In the midgut of several insects, chitin lines the surface of the gut, and chitinase is thought to play a role in degrading gut chitin. For example, chitinase may be involved in allowing expansion of the gut after a blood meal and also may assist in digestion. The present invention also indicates that flea chitinase activity occurs in extracts of fleas from various developmental stages; see Examples. Expression of flea chitinase has been shown to be most predominant in flea larval and pupal stages. Thus there are opportunities to intervene in flea development and/or digestion using embodiments of the present invention. The present invention is particularly advantageous because the proteins of the present invention have not been found in vertebrates; thus chitinase inhibitors, whether chemical compounds or antibodies against native protein, may not pose a potential health hazard to pets or to pet owners.
Tissue can be obtained from unfed fleas or from fleas that recently consumed a blood meal (i.e., blood-fed fleas). Such flea tissues are referred to herein as, respectively, unfed flea and fed flea tissue. Preferred flea tissue from which to obtain flea chitinase proteins and nucleic acids of the present invention include, but are not limited to, fed third instar larvae, fed wandering larvae, fed prepupal larvae, and fed pupae.
One embodiment of the present invention is an isolated protein that includes a flea chitinase protein. It is to be noted that the term xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9canxe2x80x9d entity refers to one or more of that entity; for example, a protein, a nucleic acid molecule, an antibody and a therapeutic composition refers to xe2x80x9cone or morexe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cat least onexe2x80x9d protein, nucleic acid molecule, antibody and therapeutic composition respectively. As such, the terms xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d (or xe2x80x9canxe2x80x9d), xe2x80x9cone or morexe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cat least onexe2x80x9d can be used interchangeably herein. It is also to be noted that the terms xe2x80x9ccomprisingxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cincludingxe2x80x9d, and xe2x80x9chavingxe2x80x9d can be used interchangeably. According to the present invention, an isolated, or biologically pure, protein, is a protein that has been removed from its natural milieu. As such, xe2x80x9cisolatedxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cbiologically purexe2x80x9d do not necessarily reflect the extent to which the protein has been purified. An isolated protein of the present invention can be obtained from its natural source, can be produced using recombinant DNA technology, or can be produced by chemical synthesis.
Preferred fleas from which to isolate chitinase proteins or nucleic acid molecules include Ctenocephalides, Ceratophyllus, Diamanus, Echidnophaga, Nosopsyllus, Pulex, Tunga, Oropsylla, Orchopeus and Xenopsylla. More preferred fleas include Ctenocephalides felis, Ctenocephalides canis, Ceratophyllus pulicidae, Pulex irritans, Oropsylla (Thrassis) bacchi, Oropsylla (Diamanus) montana, Orchopeus howardi, Xenopsylla cheopis and Pulex simulans, with C. felis being even more preferred. Such fleas are also preferred targets for therapeutic compositions of the present invention.
As used herein, isolated flea chitinase proteins of the present invention can be full-length proteins or any homolog of such proteins. An isolated protein of the present invention, including a homolog, can be identified in a straight-forward manner by the protein""s ability to elicit an immune response against a flea chitinase protein or by the protein""s chitinase activity. Examples of flea chitinase homolog proteins include flea chitinase proteins in which amino acids have been deleted (e.g., a truncated version of the protein, such as a peptide), inserted, inverted, substituted and/or derivatized (e.g., by glycosylation, phosphorylation, acetylation, myristoylation, prenylation, palmitoylation, amidation and/or addition of glycerophosphatidyl inositol) such that the homolog includes at least one epitope capable of eliciting an immune response against a flea chitinase protein, and/or of binding to an antibody directed against a flea chitinase protein. That is, when the homolog is administered to an animal as an immunogen, using techniques known to those skilled in the art, the animal will produce an immune response against at least one epitope of a natural flea chitinase protein. The ability of a protein to effect an immune response can be measured using techniques known to those skilled in the art. As used herein, the term xe2x80x9cepitopexe2x80x9d refers to the smallest portion of a protein or other antigen capable of selectively binding to the antigen binding site of an antibody or a T cell receptor. It is well accepted by those skilled in the art that the minimal size of a protein epitope is about four to six amino acids. As is appreciated by those skilled in the art, an epitope can include amino acids that naturally are contiguous to each other as well as amino acids that, due to the tertiary structure of the natural protein, are in sufficiently close proximity to form an epitope. According to the present invention, an epitope includes a portion of a protein comprising at least about 4 amino acids, at least about 5 amino acids, at least about 6 amino acids, at least about 10 amino acids, at least about 15 amino acids, at least about 20 amino acids, at least about 25 amino acids, at least about 30 amino acids, at least about 35 amino acids, at least about 40 amino acids or at least about 50 amino acids in length.
In one embodiment of the present invention a flea homolog protein has chitinase activity. Examples of flea chitinase activity include binding to a chitin molecule and hydrolyzing a chitin molecule. Examples of methods to detect chitinase activity are disclosed herein.
Flea chitinase homolog proteins can be the result of natural allelic variation or natural mutation. Flea chitinase protein homologs of the present invention can also be produced using techniques known in the art including, but not limited to, direct modifications to the protein or modifications to the gene encoding the protein using, for example, classic or recombinant DNA techniques to effect random or targeted mutagenesis.
Flea chitinase proteins of the present invention are encoded by flea chitinase nucleic acid molecules. As used herein, flea chitinase nucleic acid molecules include nucleic acid sequences related to natural flea chitinase genes, and, preferably, to Ctenocephalides felis chitinase genes. As used herein, flea chitinase genes include all regions such as regulatory regions that control production of flea chitinase proteins encoded by such genes (such as, but not limited to, transcription, translation or post-translation control regions) as well as the coding region itself, and any introns or non-translated coding regions. As used herein, a nucleic acid molecule that xe2x80x9cincludesxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9ccomprisesxe2x80x9d a sequence may include that sequence in one contiguous array, or may include the sequence as fragmented exons, such as is often found for flea genes. As used herein, the term xe2x80x9ccoding regionxe2x80x9d refers to a continuous linear array of nucleotides that translates into a protein. A full-length coding region is that coding region that is translated into a full-length, i.e., a complete protein as would be initially translated in its natural millieu, prior to any post-translational modifications.
One embodiment of the present invention is a flea chitinase gene that includes one or more of the following nucleic acid sequences: nucleic acid sequence SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:4, SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:10, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:16, and/or SEQ ID NO:25, as well as the complements of any of these nucleic acid sequences, including SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:6, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:18, and/or SEQ ID NO:27. Nucleic acid sequence SEQ ID NO:1 and its complement SEQ ID NO:3 represent an apparently 5xe2x80x2 truncated version of a C. felis chitinase cDNA; and SEQ ID NO:7 and its complement SEQ ID NO:9 represent a RACE clone that includes the 5xe2x80x2 end of a C. felis chitinase cDNA. These nucleic acid sequences are further described herein, and the cloning of the corresponding nucleic acid molecules is described in the Examples. The complement of SEQ ID NO:1, represented herein by SEQ ID NO:3, refers to the nucleic acid sequence of the strand complementary to the strand having SEQ ID NO:1, which can easily be determined by those skilled in the art. Likewise, a nucleic acid sequence complement of any nucleic acid sequence of the present invention refers to the nucleic acid sequence of the nucleic acid strand that is fully complementary to, i.e. can form a complete double helix with, the strand for which the sequence is cited. It should be noted that since nucleic acid sequencing technology is not entirely error-free, SEQ ID NO:1 represents an apparent nucleic acid sequence of the nucleic acid molecule encoding a chitinase protein of the present invention; such is also the case for other nucleic acid and protein sequences presented herein.
The nucleic acid sequences of the coding strand and complementary strand of nCfCHT2610 are represented herein as SEQ ID NO:1 and SEQ ID NO:3, respectively. Translation of SEQ ID NO:1 suggests that nucleic acid molecule nCfCHT2610 encodes a full-length chitinase protein of 583 amino acids, denoted herein as PCfCHT583, the amino acid sequence of which is presented in SEQ ID NO:2, assuming an open reading frame spanning from nucleotide 1 through nucleotide 1749 of SEQ ID NO:1. The coding region encoding PCfCHT583, without the stop codon, is presented herein as nCfCHT1749, which has the nucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO:4 (the coding strand) and SEQ ID NO:6 (the complementary strand). Translation of SEQ ID NO:4 yields SEQ ID NO:5 (the same sequence as SEQ ID NO:2), assuming a first in-frame codon extending from nucleotide 1 to nucleotide 3 of SEQ ID NO:4. nCfCHT405, a flea chitinase nucleic acid molecule obtained by RACE (Rapid Amplification of cDNA Ends), has a nucleic acid sequence denoted by SEQ ID NO:7, the coding strand, and SEQ ID NO:9, the complementary strand. Translation of SEQ ID NO:7 suggests that nucleic acid molecule nCfCHT405 encodes a partial length chitinase protein of 117 amino acids, denoted herein as PCfCHT117, the amino acid sequence of which is presented as SEQ ID NO:8. The open reading frame of SEQ ID NO:7 is denoted SEQ ID NO:10, as the coding strand of nCfCHT351, and extends from nucleotide 55 to nucleotide 405 of SEQ ID NO:7, which encodes a partial length chitinase protein of 117 amino acids, denoted herein as PCfCHT117, the amino acid sequence of which is represented by SEQ ID NO:11, which is the same sequence as SEQ ID NO:8. nCfCHT351, also has a complementary strand, denoted herein as SEQ ID NO:12. Flea chitinase nucleic acid molecule nCfCHT115, a PCR product derived from hybridization of a C. felis wandering larvae and mixed instar cDNA library with primers SEQ ID NO:19 and SEQ ID NO:20, has a nucleic acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:16 and a complementary strand represented by SEQ ID NO:18. Translation of SEQ ID NO:16, assuming a first in-frame codon extending from nucleotide 2 to nucleotide 4, suggests that nCfCHT115 encodes a partial length chitinase protein of 38 amino acids, also known as PCfCHT38, having SEQ ID NO:17.
Sequence analysis of SEQ ID NO:2 revealed the following features: a putative signal sequence, extending from about residue 1 to about residue 24, serving to direct the chitinase to be exported from the cell; and a putative mature protein, arising after cleavage of the signal sequence, extending from about residue 25 to about residue 583. Within the mature protein, a putative endochitinase domain extends from about residue 25 to about residue 381, a putative PEST region extends from about residue 399 to about residue 500, and a cysteine-rich putative chitin-binding domain extends from about residue 501 to about residue 556. The open reading frame encoding the mature chitinase protein sequence is denoted nCfCHT1677, having a coding strand of SEQ ID NO:13, and a complement denoted SEQ ID NO:15; and the mature chitinase protein sequence is denoted PCfCHT559, having the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:14. The RACE cDNA clone, nCfCHT405, encodes part of a mature chitinase protein; this protein, denoted as PCfCHT92, has an amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:26, which is coded for by a nucleic acid molecule denoted nCHT276, having a coding strand sequence of SEQ ID NO:25, and a complement sequence of SEQ ID NO:27.
In another embodiment, a chitinase gene or other nucleic acid molecule can be an allelic variant that includes a similar but not identical sequence to SEQ ID NO:1, and/or SEQ ID NO:4, or any other flea chitinase nucleic acid sequence cited herein. For example, an allelic variant of a C. felis chitinase gene including SEQ ID NO:1 is a gene that occurs at essentially the same locus (or loci) in the genome as the gene including SEQ ID NO:1, but which, due to natural variations caused by, for example, mutation or recombination, has a similar but not identical sequence. Because natural selection typically selects against alterations that affect function, allelic variants (i.e. alleles corresponding to, or of, cited nucleic acid sequences) usually encode proteins having similar activity to that of the protein encoded by the gene to which they are being compared. Allelic variants of genes or nucleic acid molecules can also comprise alterations in the 5xe2x80x2 or 3xe2x80x2 untranslated regions of the gene (e.g., in regulatory control regions), or can involve alternative splicing of a nascent transcript, thereby bringing alternative exons into juxtaposition. Allelic variants are well known to those skilled in the art and would be expected to occur naturally within a given flea such as C. felis, since the genome is diploid, and sexual reproduction will result in the reassortment of alleles. One potential example of an allelic variant of SEQ ID NO:1 is SEQ ID NO:7, as described in the Examples.
In one embodiment of the present invention, isolated chitinase proteins are encoded by nucleic acid molecules that hybridize under stringent hybridization conditions to genes or other nucleic acid molecules encoding flea chitinase proteins respectively. The minimal size of chitinase proteins of the present invention is a size sufficient to be encoded by a nucleic acid molecule capable of forming a stable hybrid (i.e., hybridizing under stringent hybridization conditions) with the complementary sequence of a nucleic acid molecule encoding the corresponding natural protein. The size of a nucleic acid molecule encoding such a protein is dependent on the nucleic acid composition and the percent homology between the flea chitinase nucleic acid molecule and the complementary nucleic acid sequence. It can easily be understood that the extent of homology required to form a stable hybrid under stringent conditions can vary depending on whether the homologous sequences are interspersed throughout a given nucleic acid molecule or are clustered (i.e., localized) in distinct regions on a given nucleic acid molecule.
The minimal size of a nucleic acid molecule capable of forming a stable hybrid with a gene encoding a flea chitinase protein is typically at least about 12 to about 15 nucleotides in length if the nucleic acid molecule is GC-rich and at least about 15 to about 18 bases in length if it is AT-rich. The minimal size of a nucleic acid molecule used to encode a flea chitinase protein homolog of the present invention is from about 12 to about 18 nucleotides in length. Thus, the minimal size of chitinase protein homologs of the present invention is from about 4 to about 6 amino acids in length. There is no limit, other than a practical limit, on the maximal size of a nucleic acid molecule encoding a flea chitinase protein of the present invention because a nucleic acid molecule of the present invention can include a portion of a gene, an entire gene, or multiple genes. The preferred size of a protein encoded by a nucleic acid molecule of the present invention depends on whether a full-length, fusion, multivalent, or functional portion of such a protein is desired.
Stringent hybridization conditions are determined based on defined physical properties of the gene to which the nucleic acid molecule is being hybridized, and can be defined mathematically. Stringent hybridization conditions are those experimental parameters that allow an individual skilled in the art to identify significant similarities between heterologous nucleic acid molecules. These conditions are well known to those skilled in the art. See, for example, Sambrook, et al., 1989, Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Labs Press, and Meinkoth, et al., 1984, Anal. Biochem. 138, 267-284, each of which is incorporated herein by this reference. As explained in detail in the cited references, the determination of hybridization conditions involves the manipulation of a set of variables including the ionic strength (M, in moles/liter), the hybridization temperature (xc2x0 C.), the concentration of nucleic acid helix destabilizing agents, such as formamide, the average length of the shortest hybrid duplex (n), and the percent G+C composition of the fragment to which an unknown nucleic acid molecule is being hybridized. For nucleic acid molecules of at least about 150 nucleotides, these variables are inserted into a standard mathematical formula to calculate the melting temperature, or Tm, of a given nucleic acid molecule. As defined in the formula below, Tm is the temperature at which two complementary nucleic acid molecule strands will disassociate, assuming 100% complementarity between the two strands:
Tm=81.5xc2x0 C.+16.6 log M+0.41(%G+C)xe2x88x92500/nxe2x88x920.61(%formamide).
For nucleic acid molecules smaller than about 50 nucleotides, hybrid stability is defined by the dissociation temperature (Td), which is defined as the temperature at which 50% of the duplexes dissociate. For these smaller molecules, the stability at a standard ionic strength is defined by the following equation:
Td=4(G+C)+2(A+T).
A temperature of 5xc2x0 C. below Td is used to detect hybridization between perfectly matched molecules.
Also well known to those skilled in the art is how base pair mismatch, i.e. differences between two nucleic acid molecules being compared, including non-complementarity of bases at a given location, and gaps due to insertion or deletion of one or more bases at a given location on either of the nucleic acid molecules being compared, will affect Tm or Td for nucleic acid molecules of different sizes. For example, Tm decreases about 1xc2x0 C. for each 1% of mismatched base pairs for hybrids greater than about 150 bp, and Td decreases about 5xc2x0 C. for each mismatched base pair for hybrids below about 50 bp. Conditions for hybrids between about 50 and about 150 base pairs can be determined empirically and without undue experimentation using standard laboratory procedures well known to those skilled in the art. These simple procedures allow one skilled in the art to set the hybridization conditions, by altering, for example, the salt concentration, the formamide concentration or the temperature, so that only nucleic acid hybrids with greater than a specified % base pair mismatch will hybridize. Stringent hybridization conditions are commonly understood by those skilled in the art to be those experimental conditions that will allow about 30% or less base pair mismatch, i.e., at least about 70% identity. Because one skilled in the art can easily determine whether a given nucleic acid molecule to be tested is less than or greater than about 50 nucleotides, and can therefore choose the appropriate formula for determining hybridization conditions, he or she can determine whether the nucleic acid molecule will hybridize with a given gene or specified nucleic acid molecule under stringent hybridization conditions and similarly whether the nucleic acid molecule will hybridize under conditions designed to allow a desired amount of base pair mismatch.
Hybridization reactions are often carried out by attaching the nucleic acid molecule to be hybridized to a solid support such as a membrane, and then hybridizing with a labeled nucleic acid molecule, typically referred to as a probe, suspended in a hybridization solution. Examples of common hybridization reaction techniques include, but are not limited to, the well-known Southern and northern blotting procedures. Typically, the actual hybridization reaction is done under non-stringent conditions, i.e., at a lower temperature and/or a higher salt concentration, and then high stringency is achieved by washing the membrane in a solution with a higher temperature and/or lower salt concentration in order to achieve the desired stringency.
For example, if the skilled artisan wished to identify a nucleic acid molecule that hybridizes under conditions that would allow less than or equal to 30% pair mismatch with a flea nucleic acid molecule of about 150 bp in length or greater, the following conditions could preferably be used. The average G+C content of flea DNA is about 37%, as calculated from known flea nucleic acid sequences. The unknown nucleic acid molecules would be attached to a support membrane, and the 150 bp probe would be labeled, e.g. with a radioactive tag. The hybridization reaction could be carried out in a solution comprising 2xc3x97SSC and 0% formamide, at a temperature of about 37xc2x0 C. (low stringency conditions). Solutions of differing concentrations of SSC can be made by one of skill in the art by diluting a stock solution of 20xc3x97SSC (175.3 gram NaCl and about 88.2 gram sodium citrate in 1 liter of water, pH 7) to obtain the desired concentration of SSC. The skilled artisan would calculate the washing conditions required to allow up to 30% base pair mismatch. For example, in a wash solution comprising 1xc3x97SSC and 0% formamide, the Tm of perfect hybrids would be about 77xc2x0 C.:
81.5xc2x0 C.+16.6 log (0.15M)+(0.41xc3x970.37)xe2x88x92(500/150)xe2x88x92(0.61xc3x970)=77.5xc2x0 C.
Thus, to achieve hybridization with nucleic acid molecules having about 30% base pair mismatch, hybridization washes would be carried out at a temperature of less than or equal to 47.5xc2x0 C. It is thus within the skill of one in the art to calculate additional hybridization temperatures based on the desired percentage base pair mismatch, formulae and G/C content disclosed herein. For example, it is appreciated by one skilled in the art that as the nucleic acid molecule to be tested for hybridization against nucleic acid molecules of the present invention having sequences specified herein becomes longer than 150 nucleotides, the Tm for a hybridization reaction allowing up to 30% base pair mismatch will not vary significantly from 47.5xc2x0 C.
Furthermore, it is known in the art that there are commercially available computer programs for determining the degree of similarity between two nucleic acid sequences. These computer programs include various known methods to determine the percentage identity and the number and length of gaps between hybrid nucleic acid molecules. Preferred methods to determine the percent identity among amino acid sequences and also among nucleic acid sequences include analysis using one or more of the commercially available computer programs designed to compare and analyze nucleic acid or amino acid sequences. These computer programs include, but are not limited to, GCG(trademark), available from Genetics Computer Group, Madison, Wis., DNAsis(trademark), available from Hitachi Software, San Bruno, Calif., and MacVector(trademark), available from the Eastman Kodak Company, New Haven, Conn. A preferred method to determine percent identity among amino acid sequences and also among nucleic acid sequences includes using the GAP program with pair-wise comparisons within the program GCG(trademark) Version 9.0-UNIX, hereinafter referred to as default parameters.
A preferred flea chitinase protein includes a protein encoded by a nucleic acid molecule of length equal to or greater than 150 nucleotides that hybridizes under conditions which preferably allow for less than or equal to about a 30% base pair mismatch, and even more preferably under conditions which allow for less than or equal to about a 20% base pair mismatch with a nucleic acid molecule selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:6, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:18, and/or SEQ ID NO:27.
Another preferred flea chitinase protein of the present invention includes proteins that are preferably at least about 70% identical, more preferably at least about 75%, more preferably at least about 80%, more preferably at least about 85%, more preferably at least about 90%, more preferably at least about 95%, and even more preferably at least about 100% identical to PCfCHT583, PCFCHT117, PCfCHT559, PCfCHT92, and/or PCfCHT38. Also preferred are proteins encoded by allelic variants of a nucleic acid molecule encoding protein PCfCHT583, PCfCHT117, PCfCHT559, PCfCHT92, and/or PCfCHT3. Percent identity as used herein is determined using the Compare function by maximum matching within the program GCG(trademark) Version 2.1 using default parameters.
As such, preferred chitinase proteins of the present invention include proteins having amino acid sequences that are preferably at least about 70%, preferably at least about 75%, preferably at least about 80%, more preferably at least about 85%, more preferably at least about 90%, more preferably at least about 95%, and even more preferably at least about 100% identical to an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:5, SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:14, SEQ ID NO:17, and/or SEQ ID NO:26, and chitinase proteins encoded by allelic variants of nucleic acid molecules encoding chitinase proteins having amino acid sequences SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:5, SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:14, SEQ ID NO:17 and/or SEQ ID NO:26.
A preferred isolated protein of the present invention is (a) a protein having nucleic acid sequence SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:5, SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:14 SEQ ID NO:17, and/or SEQ ID NO:26, (b) a protein comprising an at least 25 consecutive amino acid portion identical in sequence to a consecutive 25 amino acid portion of a sequence as set forth in (a); (c), a protein comprising a fragment of a sequence as set forth in (a), wherein the fragment has an activity selected from the group consisting of binding to a chitin molecule and hydrolyzing a chitin molecule; and (d) a protein encoded by an allelic variant of a nucleic acid molecule that encodes any protein of (a), (b), or (c). A protein comprising an at least 25 consecutive amino acid portion identical in sequence to a consecutive 25 amino acid portion of SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:5, SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:14, SEQ ID NO:17 and/or SEQ ID NO:26 refers to a 25 amino acid protein that is identical in sequence to (i.e. share 100% sequence identity with) a 25-amino acid portion of one of the named sequences above, as well as to proteins that have amino acid residues) that extend from both or either of the N-terminal and/or C-terminal end(s) of the consecutive identical 25-amino acid portion. The N-terminal and/or C-terminal extensions can include one or more extensions that have no identity to a flea chitinase of the present invention, as well as one or more extensions that show similarity or identity to cited amino acid sequences or portions thereof.
A preferred isolated protein of the present invention is a protein encoded by at least one of the following nucleic acid molecules: nCfCHT2610, nCfCHT1749, nCfCHT405, nCfCHT351, nCfCHT1677, nCfCHT276, and/or nCfCHT115, or allelic variants of any of these nucleic acid molecules. As such, a preferred isolated protein is encoded by a nucleic acid molecule having nucleic acid sequence SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:4 SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:10, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:16, and/or SEQ ID NO:25, or a protein encoded by an allelic variant of any of these listed nucleic acid molecules.
In one embodiment of the present invention, flea chitinase proteins comprise amino acid sequences SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:5, SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:14 SEQ ID NO:17, and/or SEQ ID NO:26, including, but not limited to, the proteins consisting of the cited amino acid sequences, fusion proteins and multivalent proteins and proteins encoded by allelic variants of nucleic acid molecules encoding proteins having amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:5, SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:14, SEQ ID NO:17, and/or SEQ ID NO:26.
A preferred flea chitinase protein includes a protein encoded by a nucleic acid molecule which hybridizes under conditions which preferably allow about 30% or less base pair mismatch, more preferably under conditions which allow about 25% or less base pair mismatch, more preferably under conditions which allow about 20% or less base pair mismatch, more preferably under conditions which allow about 15% or less base pair mismatch, more preferably under conditions which allow about 10% or less base pair mismatch and even more preferably under conditions which allow about 5% or less base pair mismatch with a nucleic acid molecule selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID: 3, SEQ ID NO:6, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:18, and/or SEQ ID NO:27.
Another embodiment of the present invention includes a flea chitinase protein encoded by a nucleic acid molecule, wherein said nucleic acid molecule hybridizes, in a solution comprising 1xc3x97SSC and 0% formamide, at a temperature of about 47.5xc2x0 C., to an isolated nucleic acid molecule selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID: 3, SEQ ID NO:6, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:18, and/or SEQ ID NO:27.
In one embodiment, a preferred flea chitinase protein comprises an amino acid sequence of at least about 25 amino acids, or at least about 30 amino acids, or at least about 50 amino acids, or at least about 70 amino acids, or at least about 90 amino acids, or at least about 110 amino acids, or at least about 130 amino acids, or at least about 150 amino acids, or at least about 170 amino acids, or at least about 190 amino acids, or at least about 210 amino acids, or at least about 230 amino acids, or at least about 250 amino acids, or at least about 270 amino acids, or at least about 290 amino acids, or at least about 310 amino acids, or at least about 330 amino acids, or at least about 350 amino acids, or at least about 370 amino acids, or at least about 390 amino acids, or at least about 410 amino acids, or at least about 430 amino acids, or at least about 450 amino acids, or at least about 470 amino acids, or at least about 490 amino acids, or at least about 510 amino acids, or at least about 530 amino acids, or at least about 550 amino acids, or at least about 570 amino acids, or at least about 580 amino acids. In another embodiment, preferred flea chitinase proteins comprise full-length proteins, i.e., proteins encoded by full-length coding regions, or post-translationally modified proteins thereof, such as mature proteins from which initiating methionine and/or signal sequences have been removed.
Additional preferred flea chitinase proteins of the present invention include proteins having the amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO:2 SEQ ID NO:5, SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:14, SEQ ID NO:17, and/or SEQ ID NO:26, and proteins comprising homologs thereof, wherein such a homolog comprises at least one epitope that elicits an immune response against a protein having an amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:5, SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:14, SEQ ID NO:17, and/or SEQ ID NO:26. Likewise, also preferred are proteins encoded by nucleic acid molecules comprising nucleic acid sequence SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:4, SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:10, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:16, and/or SEQ ID NO:25, or by homologs thereof.
For a protein to have chitinase activity, the protein must have one or more functional chitinase domain(s). A functional chitinase domain is at least the smallest piece, or fragment, of the protein that is necessary to allow the protein to have chitinase activity. For example, a functional domain also includes proteins that are larger than the smallest fragment necessary to allow chitinase activity. Examples of chitinase functional domains are chitin binding domains and domains that hydrolyze chitin.
One of skill in the art will understand that a nucleic acid molecule or protein fragment of the present invention is an example of a homolog that includes a portion of a larger nucleic acid molecule or protein, respectively. One of skill in the art will also understand that fragments including one or more of the functional domains of chitinase can vary and extend beyond those particular nucleic acid or amino acid regions defined herein. Nucleic acids or amino acids essential to an active domain can be identified using standard protein or DNA binding assays known to those of skill in the art to determine whether an active domain has chitinase activity.
In another embodiment, a preferred flea chitinase protein of the present invention is encoded by a nucleic acid molecule comprising apparently full-length chitinase coding regions, e.g., nucleic acid molecules encoding an apparently full-length chitinase protein or a post-translationally modified version thereof. Also preferred is a flea chitinase protein that includes the endochitinase domain and/or chitin binding domain. In another embodiment, a preferred chitinase protein of the present invention is encoded by a nucleic acid molecule comprising at least about 18 nucleotides, at least about 20 nucleotides, at least about 30 nucleotides, at least about 40 nucleotides, at least about 100 nucleotides, at least about 200 nucleotides, at least about 300 nucleotides, at least about 400 nucleotides, at least about 500 nucleotides, at least about 600 nucleotides, at least about 700 nucleotides, at least about 800 nucleotides, at least about 900 nucleotides, at least about 1000 nucleotides, at least about 1100 nucleotides, at least about 1200 nucleotides, at least about 1300 nucleotides, at least about 1400 nucleotides, at least about 1500 nucleotides, at least about 1600 nucleotides, at least about 1700 nucleotides, and more preferably at least about 1677 or 1749 nucleotides in length. Within this embodiment is an chitinase protein encoded by at least a portion of nCfCHT2610, nCfCHT1749, nCfCHT405, nCfCHT351, nCfCHT1677, nCfCHT276, and/or nCfCHT115, or by an allelic variant of any of these nucleic acid molecules.
Preferred flea chitinase proteins of the present invention can be used to develop inhibitors that, when administered to an animal, are capable of protecting that animal from flea infestation. In accordance with the present invention, the ability of an inhibitor of the present invention to protect an animal from flea infestation refers to the ability of that protein to, for example, treat, ameliorate and/or prevent infestation caused by fleas. In particular, the phrase xe2x80x9cto protect an animal from flea infestationxe2x80x9d refers to reducing the potential for flea population expansion on and around the animal (i.e., reducing the flea burden). Preferably, the flea population size is decreased, optimally to an extent that the animal is no longer bothered by fleas. A host animal, as used herein, is an animal from which fleas can feed by attaching to and feeding through the skin of the animal. Fleas, and other ectoparasites, can live on a host animal for an extended period of time or can attach temporarily to an animal in order to feed. At any given time, a certain percentage of a flea population can be on a host animal whereas the remainder can be in the environment of the animal. Such an environment can include not only adult fleas, but also flea eggs and/or flea larvae. The environment can be of any size such that fleas in the environment are able to jump onto and off of a host animal. For example, the environment of an animal can include plants, such as crops, from which fleas infest an animal. As such, it is desirable not only to reduce the flea burden on an animal per se, but also to reduce the flea burden in the environment of the animal.
Suitable fleas to target include any flea that is essentially incapable of causing disease in an animal administered an inhibitor of the present invention. As such, fleas to target includes any flea that produces a protein that can be targeted by an inhibitory compound that inhibits flea chitinase function (e.g., a compound that inhibits flea chitinase, thereby blocking flea development and/or digestive pathways), thereby resulting in the decreased ability of the parasite to cause disease in an animal.
One embodiment of a flea chitinase protein of the present invention is a fusion protein that includes a flea chitinase protein-containing domain attached to one or more fusion segments. Suitable fusion segments for use with the present invention include, but are not limited to, segments that can: enhance a protein""s stability; act as an immunopotentiator to enhance an immune response against a flea chitinase protein; and/or assist in purification of a flea chitinase protein (e.g., by affinity chromatography). A suitable fusion segment can be a domain of any size that has the desired function (e.g., imparts increased stability, imparts increased immunogenicity to a protein, and/or simplifies purification of a protein). Fusion segments can be joined to amino and/or carboxyl termini of the flea chitinase-containing domain of the protein and can be susceptible to cleavage in order to enable straight-forward recovery of a flea chitinase protein. Fusion proteins are preferably produced by culturing a recombinant cell transformed with a fusion nucleic acid molecule that encodes a protein including the fusion segment attached to either the carboxyl and/or amino terminal end of a chitinase-containing domain. Preferred fusion segments include a metal binding domain (e.g., a poly-histidine segment); an immunoglobulin binding domain (e.g., Protein A; Protein G; T cell; B cell; Fc receptor or complement protein antibody-binding domains); a sugar binding domain (e.g., a maltose binding domain); and/or a xe2x80x9ctagxe2x80x9d domain (e.g., at least a portion of xcex2-galactosidase, a strep tag peptide, a T7 tag peptide, a Flag(trademark) peptide, or other domains that can be purified using compounds that bind to the domain, such as monoclonal antibodies). More preferred fusion segments include metal binding domains, such as a poly-histidine segment; a maltose binding domain; a strep tag peptide, such as that available from Biometra in Tampa, Fla.; and an S10 peptide. One embodiment of a fusion protein is a chimera of flea chitinase with a functional moiety. This moiety can, for example, have the function of allowing oligomerization of the chimeric chitinase proteins.
The present invention also includes mimetopes of flea chitinase proteins of the present invention. As used herein, a mimetope of a flea chitinase protein of the present invention refers to any compound that is able to mimic the activity of such an chitinase protein, often because the mimetope has a structure that mimics the particular chitinase protein. Mimetopes can be, but are not limited to: peptides that have been modified to decrease their susceptibility to degradation such as all-D retro peptides; anti-idiotypic and/or catalytic antibodies, or fragments thereof; non-proteinaceous immunogenic portions of an isolated protein (e.g., carbohydrate structures); and synthetic or natural organic molecules, including nucleic acids. Such mimetopes can be designed using computer-generated structures of proteins of the present invention. Mimetopes can also be obtained by generating random samples of molecules, such as oligonucleotides, peptides or other organic molecules, and screening such samples by affinity chromatography techniques using the corresponding binding partner.
Another embodiment of the present invention is an isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising a flea chitinase nucleic acid molecule. A nucleic acid molecule of the present invention can include an isolated natural flea chitinase gene, cDNA, or a homolog thereof, the latter of which is described in more detail below. A nucleic acid molecule of the present invention can include one or more regulatory regions, full-length or partial coding regions, or combinations thereof. The minimal size of a nucleic acid molecule of the present invention is a size sufficient to allow the formation of a stable hybrid (i.e., hybridization under stringent hybridization conditions) with the complementary sequence of another nucleic acid molecule.
In accordance with the present invention, an isolated nucleic acid molecule is a nucleic acid molecule that has been removed from its natural milieu (i.e., that has been subjected to human manipulation) and can include DNA, RNA, or derivatives of either DNA or RNA. As such, xe2x80x9cisolatedxe2x80x9d does not reflect the extent to which the nucleic acid molecule has been purified. Isolated flea chitinase nucleic acid molecules of the present invention, or homologs thereof, can be isolated from a natural source or produced using recombinant DNA technology (e.g., polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification or cloning) or chemical synthesis. Isolated flea chitinase nucleic acid molecules, and homologs thereof, can include, for example, natural allelic variants and nucleic acid molecules modified by nucleotide insertions, deletions, substitutions, and/or inversions in a manner such that the modifications do not substantially interfere with the nucleic acid molecule""s ability to encode a flea chitinase protein of the present invention.
A flea chitinase nucleic acid molecule homolog can be produced using a number of methods known to those skilled in the art, see, for example, Sambrook et al., 1989, Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Labs Press; Sambrook et al., ibid., is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. For example, nucleic acid molecules can be modified using a variety of techniques including, but not limited to, classic mutagenesis and recombinant DNA techniques such as site-directed mutagenesis, chemical treatment, restriction enzyme cleavage, ligation of nucleic acid fragments, PCR amplification, synthesis of oligonucleotide mixtures and ligation of mixture groups to xe2x80x9cbuildxe2x80x9d a mixture of nucleic acid molecules, and combinations thereof. Nucleic acid molecule homologs can be selected by hybridization with flea chitinase nucleic acid molecules or by screening the function of a protein encoded by the nucleic acid molecule, e.g., ability to elicit an immune response against at least one epitope of a flea chitinase protein or to effect chitinase activity.
An isolated nucleic acid molecule of the present invention can include a nucleic acid sequence that encodes at least one flea chitinase protein of the present invention, examples of such proteins being disclosed herein. Although the phrase xe2x80x9cnucleic acid moleculexe2x80x9d primarily refers to the physical nucleic acid molecule and the phrase xe2x80x9cnucleic acid sequencexe2x80x9d primarily refers to the sequence of nucleotides on the nucleic acid molecule, the two phrases can be used interchangeably, especially with respect to a nucleic acid molecule, or a nucleic acid sequence, being capable of encoding a flea chitinase protein.
A preferred nucleic acid molecule of the present invention, when administered to an animal, is capable of protecting that animal from flea infestation. As will be disclosed in more detail below, such a nucleic acid molecule can be, or encode, an antisense RNA, a molecule capable of triple helix formation, a ribozyme, or other nucleic acid-based drug compound. In additional embodiments, a nucleic acid molecule of the present invention can encode a protective protein (e.g., an chitinase protein of the present invention), the nucleic acid molecule being delivered to the animal, for example, by direct injection (i.e., as a nucleic acid vaccine) or in a vehicle such as a recombinant virus vaccine or a recombinant cell vaccine.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a preferred flea chitinase nucleic acid molecule includes an isolated nucleic acid molecule that can be any of the following: (a) a nucleic acid molecule comprising SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:4, SEQ ID NO:6, SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:10, SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:16, SEQ ID NO:18, SEQ ID NO:25, and/or SEQ ID NO:27; and/or (b) a nucleic acid molecule comprising an at least 18 consecutive nucleotide portion identical in sequence to a consecutive 18 nucleotide portion of a sequence as set forth in (a). A nucleotide comprising an at least 18 consecutive nucleotide portion identical in sequence to a consecutive 18 nucleotide portion of SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:4, SEQ ID NO:6, SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:10, SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:16, SEQ ID NO:18, SEQ ID NO:25, and/or SEQ ID NO:27 refers to an 18-nucleotide in length nucleic acid molecule that is identical in sequence to an 18-nucleotide portion of one of the named sequences above, as well as to nucleic acid molecules that have nucleotides that extend from both or either of the 5xe2x80x2 or 3xe2x80x2 end(s) of the consecutive identical 18 nucleotide portion. The 5xe2x80x2 and/or 3xe2x80x2 extensions can include one or more extensions that have no identity to a flea chitinase nucleic acid molecule of the present invention, as well as extensions that show similarity or identity to cited nucleic acid sequences or portions thereof.
A preferred flea chitinase nucleic acid molecule of the present invention is a nucleic acid molecule comprising apparently full-length chitinase protein coding regions, e.g., nucleic acid molecules encoding an apparently full-length chitinase protein or a post-translationally modified version thereof. Also preferred is a nucleic acid molecule that encodes a flea chitinase protein and/or chitin binding domain that includes the endochitinase domain. In another embodiment, a preferred chitinase nucleic acid molecule of the present invention comprises at least about 18 nucleotides, at least about 20 nucleotides, at least about 30 nucleotides, at least about 40 nucleotides, at least about 100 nucleotides, at least about 200 nucleotides, at least about 300 nucleotides, at least about 400 nucleotides, at least about 500 nucleotides, at least about 600 nucleotides, at least about 700 nucleotides, at least about 800 nucleotides, at least about 900 nucleotides, at least about 1000 nucleotides, at least about 1100 nucleotides, at least about 1200 nucleotides, at least about 1300 nucleotides, at least about 1400 nucleotides, at least about 1500 nucleotides, at least about 1600 nucleotides, at least about 1700 nucleotides, and more preferably at least about 1677 or 1749 nucleotides in length.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a preferred flea chitinase nucleic acid molecule includes an isolated nucleic acid molecule which hybridizes under conditions which preferably allow about 30% or less base pair mismatch, more preferably under conditions which allow about 25% or less base pair mismatch, more preferably under conditions which allow about 20% or less base pair mismatch, more preferably under conditions which allow about 15% or less base pair mismatch, more preferably under conditions which allow about 10% or less base pair mismatch and even more preferably under conditions which allow about 5% or less base pair mismatch with a nucleic acid molecule selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:4, SEQ ID NO:6, SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:10, SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:16, SEQ ID NO:18, SEQ ID NO:25, and SEQ ID NO:27.
Another embodiment of the present invention includes a nucleic acid molecule that hybridizes in a solution comprising 1xc3x97SSC and 0% formamide, at a temperature of about 47.5xc2x0 C., to a nucleic acid molecule selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:4, SEQ ID NO:6, SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:10, SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:16, SEQ ID NO:18, SEQ ID NO:25, and/or SEQ ID NO:27.
Additional preferred flea chitinase nucleic acid molecules of the present invention include nucleic acid molecules comprising a nucleic acid sequence that is preferably at least about 70%, more preferably at least about 75%, more preferably at least about 80% more preferably at least about 85%, more preferably at least about 90%, and even more preferably at least about 95% identical to at least one of the following nucleic acid sequences: SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:4, SEQ ID NO:6, SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:10, SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:16, SEQ ID NO:18, SEQ ID NO:25, and/or SEQ ID NO:27. Also preferred are oligonucleotides of any of such nucleic acid molecules. Percent identity may be determined using the program GCG Version 9.0-UNIX using default parameters.
One embodiment of the present invention is a nucleic acid molecule comprising all or part of nucleic acid molecules nCfCHT2610 nCfCHT1749, nCfCHT405, nCfCHT351, nCfCHT1677, nCfCHT276, and/or nCfCHT115, or allelic variants of these nucleic acid molecules. As such, preferred nucleic acid molecule of the present invention includes at least a portion of nucleic acid sequence SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:4, SEQ ID NO:6, SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:10, SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:16, SEQ ID NO:18, SEQ ID NO:25, and/or SEQ ID NO:27. Also preferred are allelic variants of nucleic acid molecules having these nucleic acid sequences and other homologs of nucleic acid molecules having these nucleic acid sequences; preferably such a homolog encodes or is complementary to a nucleic acid molecule that encodes at least one epitope that elicits an immune response against a protein having an amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:5, SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:14, SEQ ID NO:17, and/or SEQ ID NO:26. Such nucleic acid molecules can include nucleotides in addition to those included in the SEQ ID NOs, such as, but not limited to, a full-length gene, a full-length coding region, a nucleic acid molecule encoding a fusion protein, or a nucleic acid molecule encoding a multivalent protective compound.
In another embodiment, a chitinase nucleic acid molecule of the present invention encodes a protein having an amino acid sequence that is at least about 70%, preferably at least about 75%, more preferably at least about 80%, even more preferably at least about 85%, even more preferably at least about 90%, even more preferably at least about 95%, even more preferably at least about 98%, and even more preferably at least about 100% identical to SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:5, SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:14, SEQ ID NO:17, and/or SEQ ID NO:26. The present invention also includes a chitinase nucleic acid molecule encoding a protein having at least a portion (i.e. fragment) of SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:5, SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:14, SEQ ID NO:17, and/or SEQ ID NO:26, such that the protein has chitinase activity, as well as allelic variants of a chitinase nucleic acid molecule encoding a protein having these sequences, including nucleic acid molecules that have been modified to accommodate codon usage properties of the cells in which such nucleic acid molecules are to be expressed.
In another embodiment, a preferred flea chitinase nucleic acid molecule encodes a chitinase protein comprising at least about 25 amino acids, or at least about 40 amino acids, or at least about 60 amino acids, or at least about 100 amino acids, or at least about 150 amino acids, or at least about 200 amino acids, or at least about 250 amino acids, or at least about 300 amino acids, or at least about 350 amino acids, or at least about 400 amino acids, or at least about 450 amino acids, or at least about 500 amino acids, or at least about 550 amino acids, or at least about 559 or 583 amino acids in length.
In another embodiment, a preferred flea chitinase nucleic acid molecule of the present invention comprises an apparently full-length chitinase coding region, i.e., the preferred nucleic acid molecule encodes an apparently full-length chitinase protein or mature protein thereof.
Knowing the nucleic acid sequences of certain flea chitinase nucleic acid molecules of the present invention allows one skilled in the art to, for example, (a) make copies of those nucleic acid molecules, (b) obtain nucleic acid molecules including at least a portion of such nucleic acid molecules (e.g., nucleic acid molecules including full-length genes, full-length coding regions, regulatory control sequences, truncated coding regions), and (c) obtain other flea chitinase nucleic acid molecules. Such nucleic acid molecules can be obtained in a variety of ways including screening appropriate expression libraries with antibodies of the present invention; traditional cloning techniques using oligonucleotide probes of the present invention to screen appropriate libraries; and PCR amplification of appropriate: libraries or DNA using oligonucleotide primers of the present invention. Preferred libraries to screen or from which to amplify nucleic acid molecules include flea 3rd instar larvae, wandering larvae, prepupal larvae, and pupae cDNA libraries as well as genomic DNA libraries. Techniques to clone and amplify genes are disclosed, for example, in Sambrook et al., ibid.
The present invention also includes nucleic acid molecules that are oligonucleotides capable of hybridizing, under stringent hybridization conditions, with complementary regions of other, preferably longer, nucleic acid molecules of the present invention such as those comprising C. felis chitinase nucleic acid molecules or other flea chitinase nucleic acid molecules. Oligonucleotides of the present invention can be RNA, DNA, or derivatives of either. The minimum size of such oligonucleotides is the size required for formation of a stable hybrid between an oligonucleotide and a complementary sequence on a nucleic acid molecule of the present invention. A preferred oligonucleotide of the present invention has a maximum size of from about 100 to about 200 nucleotides. The present invention includes oligonucleotides that can be used as, for example, probes to identify nucleic acid molecules, primers to produce nucleic acid molecules, or therapeutic reagents to inhibit flea chitinase protein production or activity (e.g., as antisense-, triplex formation-, ribozyme- and/or RNA drug-based reagents). The present invention also includes the use of such oligonucleotides to protect animals from disease using one or more of such technologies. Appropriate oligonucleotide-containing therapeutic compositions can be administered to an animal using techniques known to those skilled in the art.
One embodiment of the present invention includes a recombinant vector, which includes at least one isolated nucleic acid molecule of the present invention, inserted into any vector capable of delivering the nucleic acid molecule into a host cell. Such a vector contains heterologous nucleic acid sequences, that is nucleic acid sequences that are not naturally found adjacent to nucleic acid molecules of the present invention and that preferably are derived from a species other than the species from which the nucleic acid molecule(s) are derived. The vector can be either RNA or DNA, either prokaryotic or eukaryotic, and typically is a virus or a plasmid. Recombinant vectors can be used in the cloning, sequencing, and/or otherwise manipulating of flea chitinase nucleic acid molecules of the present invention.
One type of recombinant vector, referred to herein as a recombinant molecule, comprises a nucleic acid molecule of the present invention operatively linked to an expression vector. The phrase operatively linked refers to insertion of a nucleic acid molecule into an expression vector in a manner such that the molecule is able to be expressed when transformed into a host cell. As used herein, an expression vector is a DNA or RNA vector that is capable of transforming a host cell and of effecting expression of a specified nucleic acid molecule. Preferably, the expression vector is also capable of replicating within the host cell. Expression vectors can be either prokaryotic or eukaryotic, and are typically viruses or plasmids. Expression vectors of the present invention include any vectors that function (i.e., direct gene expression) in recombinant cells of the present invention, including in bacterial, fungal, parasite, insect, other animal, and plant cells. Preferred expression vectors of the present invention can direct gene expression in bacterial, yeast, insect and mammalian cells, and more preferably in the cell types disclosed herein.
In particular, expression vectors of the present invention contain regulatory sequences such as transcription control sequences, translation control sequences, origins of replication, and other regulatory sequences that are compatible with the recombinant cell and that control the expression of nucleic acid molecules of the present invention. In particular, recombinant molecules of the present invention include transcription control sequences. Transcription control sequences are sequences which control the initiation, elongation, and termination of transcription. Particularly important transcription control sequences are those which control transcription initiation, such as promoter, enhancer, operator and repressor sequences. Suitable transcription control sequences include any transcription control sequence that can function in at least one of the recombinant cells of the present invention. A variety of such transcription control sequences are known to those skilled in the art. Preferred transcription control sequences include those which function in bacterial, yeast, or insect and mammalian cells, such as, but not limited to, tac, lac, trp, trc, oxy-pro, omp/lpp, rrnB, bacteriophage lambda (such as lambda pL and lambda pR and fusions that include such promoters), bacteriophage T7, T7lac, bacteriophage T3, bacteriophage SP6, bacteriophage SP01, metallothionein, alpha-mating factor, Pichia alcohol oxidase, alphavirus subgenomic promoter, antibiotic resistance gene, baculovirus, Heliothis zea insect virus, vaccinia virus, herpesvirus, raccoon poxvirus, other poxvirus, adenovirus, cytomegalovirus (such as immediate early promoter), simian virus 40, retrovirus, actin, retroviral long terminal repeat, Rous sarcoma virus, heat shock, phosphate and nitrate transcription control sequences as well as other sequences capable of controlling gene expression in prokaryotic or eukaryotic cells. Additional suitable transcription control sequences include tissue-specific promoters and enhancers as well as lymphokine-inducible promoters (e.g., promoters inducible by interferons or interleukins). Transcription control sequences of the present invention can also include naturally occurring transcription control sequences naturally associated with fleas, such as C. felis transcription control sequences.
Suitable and preferred nucleic acid molecules to include in recombinant vectors of the present invention are as disclosed herein. Preferred nucleic acid molecules to include in recombinant vectors, and particularly in recombinant molecules, include nCfCHT2610, nCfCHT1749, nCfCHT405, nCfCHT351, nCfCHT1677, nCfCHT276, and nCfCHT115.
Recombinant molecules of the present invention may also (a) contain secretory signals (i.e., signal segment nucleic acid sequences) to enable an expressed flea protein of the present invention to be secreted from the cell that produces the protein and/or (b) contain fusion sequences which lead to the expression of nucleic acid molecules of the present invention as fusion proteins. Examples of suitable signal segments include any signal segment capable of directing the secretion of a protein of the present invention. Preferred signal segments include, but are not limited to, tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA), interferon, interleukin, growth hormone, histocompatibility and viral envelope glycoprotein signal segments. Suitable fusion segments encoded by fusion segment nucleic acids are disclosed herein. In addition, a nucleic acid molecule of the present invention can be joined to a fusion segment that directs the encoded protein to the proteosome, such as a ubiquitin fusion segment. Eukaryotic recombinant molecules may also include intervening and/or untranslated sequences surrounding and/or within the nucleic acid sequences of nucleic acid molecules of the present invention.
Another embodiment of the present invention includes a recombinant cell comprising a host cell transformed with one or more recombinant molecules of the present invention. Transformation of a nucleic acid molecule into a cell can be accomplished by any method by which a nucleic acid molecule can be inserted into the cell. Transformation techniques include, but are not limited to, transfection, electroporation, microinjection, lipofection, adsorption, and protoplast fusion. A recombinant cell may remain unicellular or may grow into a tissue, organ or a multicellular organism. It is to be noted that a cell line refers to any recombinant cell of the present invention that is not a transgenic animal. Transformed nucleic acid molecules of the present invention can remain extrachromosomal or can integrate into one or more sites within a chromosome of the transformed (i.e., recombinant) cell in such a manner that their ability to be expressed is retained. Preferred nucleic acid molecules with which to transform a cell include C. felis chitinase nucleic acid molecules disclosed herein. Particularly preferred nucleic acid molecules with which to transform a cell include nCfCHT2610, nCfCHT1749, nCfCHT405, nCfCHT351, nCfCHT1677, nCfCHT276, and nCfCHT115.
Suitable host cells to transform include any cell that can be transformed with a nucleic acid molecule of the present invention. Host cells can be either untransformed cells or cells that are already transformed with at least one nucleic acid molecule (e.g., nucleic acid molecules encoding one or more proteins of the present invention and/or other proteins useful in the production of multivalent vaccines). Host cells of the present invention either can be endogenously (i.e., naturally) capable of producing flea chitinase proteins of the present invention or can be capable of producing such proteins after being transformed with at least one nucleic acid molecule of the present invention. Host cells of the present invention can be any cell capable of producing at least one protein of the present invention, and include bacterial, fungal (including yeast), parasite (including helminth, protozoa and ectoparasite), other insect, other animal and plant cells. Preferred host cells include bacterial, mycobacterial, yeast, insect and mammalian cells. More preferred host cells include Salmonella, Escherichia, Bacillus, Caulobacter, Listeria, Saccharomyces, Pichia, Spodoptera, Mycobacteria, Trichoplusia, BHK (baby hamster kidney) cells, MDCK cells (Madin-Darby canine kidney cell line), CRFK cells (Crandell feline kidney cell line), CV-1 cells (African monkey kidney cell line used, for example, to culture raccoon poxvirus), COS (e.g., COS-7) cells, and Vero cells. Particularly preferred host cells are Escherichia coli, including E. coli K-12 derivatives; Salmonella typhi; Salmonella typhimurium, including attenuated strains such as UK-1 "khgr"3987 and SR-11 "khgr"4072; Caulobacter; Pichia; Spodoptera frugiperda; Trichoplusia ni; BHK cells; MDCK cells; CRFK cells; CV-1 cells; COS cells; Vero cells; and non-tumorigenic mouse myoblast G8 cells (e.g., ATCC CRL 1246). Additional appropriate mammalian cell hosts include other kidney cell lines, other fibroblast cell lines (e.g., human, murine or chicken embryo fibroblast cell lines), myeloma cell lines, Chinese hamster ovary cells, mouse NIH/3T3 cells, LMTK31 cells and/or HeLa cells. In one embodiment, the proteins may be expressed as heterologous proteins in myeloma cell lines employing immunoglobulin promoters.
A recombinant cell is preferably produced by transforming a host cell with one or more recombinant molecules, each comprising one or more nucleic acid molecules of the present invention operatively linked to an expression vector containing one or more transcription control sequences, examples of which are disclosed herein. The phrase operatively linked refers to insertion of a nucleic acid molecule into an expression vector in a manner such that the molecule is able to be expressed when transformed into a host cell.
A recombinant cell of the present invention includes any cell transformed with at least one of any nucleic acid molecule of the present invention. Suitable and preferred nucleic acid molecules as well as suitable and preferred recombinant molecules with which to transfer cells are disclosed herein.
Recombinant cells of the present invention can also be co-transformed with one or more recombinant molecules including flea chitinase nucleic acid molecules encoding one or more proteins of the present invention and one or more other nucleic acid molecules encoding other protective compounds, as disclosed herein, e.g., to produce multivalent vaccines.
Recombinant DNA technologies can be used to improve expression of transformed nucleic acid molecules by manipulating, for example, the number of copies of the nucleic acid molecules within a host cell, the efficiency with which those nucleic acid molecules are transcribed, the efficiency with which the resultant transcripts are translated, and the efficiency of post-translational modifications. Recombinant techniques useful for increasing the expression of nucleic acid molecules of the present invention include, but are not limited to, operatively linking nucleic acid molecules to high-copy number plasmids, integration of the nucleic acid molecules into one or more host cell chromosomes, addition of vector stability sequences to plasmids, substitutions or modifications of transcription control signals (e.g., promoters, operators, enhancers), substitutions or modifications of translational control signals (e.g., ribosome binding sites, Shine-Dalgarno sequences), modification of nucleic acid molecules of the present invention to correspond to the codon usage of the host cell, deletion of sequences that destabilize transcripts, and use of control signals that temporally separate recombinant cell growth from recombinant enzyme production during fermentation. The activity of an expressed recombinant protein of the present invention may be improved by fragmenting, modifying, or derivatizing nucleic acid molecules encoding such a protein.
Isolated flea chitinase proteins of the present invention can be produced in a variety of ways, including production and recovery of natural proteins, production and recovery of recombinant proteins, and chemical synthesis of the proteins. In one embodiment, an isolated protein of the present invention is produced by culturing a cell capable of expressing the protein under conditions effective to produce the protein, and recovering the protein. A preferred cell to culture is a recombinant cell of the present invention. Effective culture conditions include, but are not limited to, effective media, bioreactor, temperature, pH and oxygen conditions that permit protein production. An effective medium refers to any medium in which a cell is cultured to produce a flea chitinase protein of the present invention. Such medium typically comprises an aqueous medium having assimilable carbon, nitrogen and phosphate sources, and appropriate salts, minerals, metals and other nutrients, such as vitamins. Cells of the present invention can be cultured in conventional fermentation bioreactors, shake flasks, test tubes, microtiter dishes, and petri plates. Culturing can be carried out at a temperature, pH and oxygen content appropriate for a recombinant cell. Such culturing conditions are within the expertise of one of ordinary skill in the art.
Depending on the vector and host system used for production, resultant proteins of the present invention may either remain within the recombinant cell; be secreted into the fermentation medium; be secreted into a space between two cellular membranes, such as the periplasmic space in E. coli; or be retained on the outer surface of a cell or viral membrane.
The phrase xe2x80x9crecovering the proteinxe2x80x9d, as well as similar phrases, refers to collecting the whole fermentation medium containing the protein and need not imply additional steps of separation or purification. Proteins of the present invention can be purified using a variety of standard protein purification techniques, such as, but not limited to, affinity chromatography, ion exchange chromatography, filtration, electrophoresis, hydrophobic interaction chromatography, gel filtration chromatography, reverse phase chromatography, concanavalin A chromatography, chromatofocusing and differential solubilization. Proteins of the present invention are preferably retrieved in xe2x80x9csubstantially purexe2x80x9d form. As used herein, xe2x80x9csubstantially purexe2x80x9d refers to a purity that allows for the effective use of the protein as a therapeutic composition or diagnostic. A therapeutic composition for animals, for example, should exhibit no substantial toxicity and preferably should be capable of stimulating the production of antibodies in a treated animal.
The present invention also includes isolated (i.e., removed from their natural milieu) antibodies that selectively bind to a flea chitinase protein of the present invention or a mimetope thereof (e.g., anti-C. felis chitinase antibodies). As used herein, the term, selectively binds to a chitinase protein, refers to the ability of antibodies of the present invention to preferentially bind to specified proteins and mimetopes thereof of the present invention. Binding can be measured using a variety of methods standard in the art including enzyme immunoassays (e.g., ELISA), immunoblot assays, etc.; see, for example, Sambrook et al., ibid., and Harlow, et al., 1988, Antibodies, a Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Labs Press; Harlow et al., ibid., is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. An anti-chitinase antibody of the present invention preferably selectively binds to a flea chitinase protein respectively in such a way as to inhibit the function of that protein.
Isolated antibodies of the present invention can include antibodies in serum, or antibodies that have been purified to varying degrees. Antibodies of the present invention can be polyclonal or monoclonal, or can be functional equivalents such as antibody fragments and genetically-engineered antibodies, including single chain antibodies or chimeric antibodies that can bind to one or more epitopes.
A preferred method to produce antibodies of the present invention includes (a) administering to an animal an effective amount of a protein, peptide or mimetope thereof of the present invention to produce the antibodies and (b) recovering the antibodies. In another method, antibodies of the present invention are produced recombinantly using techniques as heretofore disclosed to produce chitinase proteins of the present invention. Antibodies raised against defined proteins or mimetopes can be advantageous because such antibodies are not substantially contaminated with antibodies against other substances that might otherwise cause interference in a diagnostic assay or side effects if used in a therapeutic composition.
Antibodies of the present invention have a variety of potential uses that are within the scope of the present invention. For example, such antibodies can be used (a) as therapeutic compounds to passively immunize an animal in order to protect the animal from fleas susceptible to treatment by such antibodies and/or (b) as tools to screen expression libraries and/or to recover desired proteins of the present invention from a mixture of proteins and other contaminants. Furthermore, antibodies of the present invention can be used to target cytotoxic agents to fleas in order to directly kill such fleas. Targeting can be accomplished by conjugating (i.e., stably joining) such antibodies to the cytotoxic agents using techniques known to those skilled in the art. Suitable cytotoxic agents are known to those skilled in the art.
One embodiment of the present invention is a therapeutic composition that, when administered to an animal susceptible to flea infestation, is capable of protecting that animal from flea infestation. Therapeutic compositions of the present invention include at least one of the following protective molecules: an isolated flea chitinase protein; a mimetope of an isolated flea chitinase protein; an isolated flea chitinase nucleic acid molecule; and/or a compound derived from said isolated flea chitinase protein that inhibits chitinase activity. Chitinase activity includes binding to a chitin molecule and/or hydrolyzing a chitin molecule. A therapeutic composition of the present invention can further comprise a component selected from the group of an excipient, a carrier, and/or an adjuvant; these components are described further herein. As used herein, a protective molecule or protective compound refers to a compound that, when administered to an animal in an effective manner, is able to treat, ameliorate, and/or prevent flea infestation. Preferred fleas to target are heretofore disclosed. One example of a protective molecule is a vaccine, such as, but not limited to, a naked nucleic acid vaccine, a recombinant virus vaccine, a recombinant cell vaccine, and a recombinant protein vaccine. Another example of a protective molecule is a compound that inhibits chitinase activity, such as an isolated antibody that selectively binds to a flea chitinase protein, a substrate analog of a flea chitinase, anti-sense-, triplex formation-, ribozyme-, and/or RNA drug-based compounds, or other inorganic or organic molecules that inhibit chitinase activity. Inhibiting flea chitinase activity can refer to the ability of a compound to reduce the activity of flea chitinase. Inhibiting flea chitinase activity can also refer to the ability of a compound to reduce the amount of flea chitinase in a flea.
Another embodiment of the present invention includes a method to reduce a flea infestation in an animal susceptible to flea infestation. Such a method includes the step of administering to the animal a therapeutic molecule comprising a protective compound selected from the group consisting of (a) an isolated flea chitinase protein; (b) a mimetope of an isolated flea chitinase protein; (c) an isolated flea chitinase nucleic acid molecule; and (d) a compound derived from an isolated flea chitinase protein that inhibits chitinase activity.
Therapeutic compositions of the present invention can be administered to any animal susceptible to flea infestation, preferably to mammals, and more preferably to dogs, cats, humans, ferrets, horses, cattle, sheep, and other pets, economic food animals, work animals and/or zoo animals. Preferred animals to protect against flea infestation include dogs, cats, humans, and ferrets, with dogs and cats being particularly preferred.
As used herein, the term derived, or the term derived from, refers to a peptide, antibody, mimetope, nucleic acid molecule, or other compound that was obtained from a flea chitinase protein or nucleic acid molecule of the present invention. Methods to obtain derivatives from a chitinase molecule of the present invention are known in the art, and as such include, but are not limited to molecular modeling of chitinase to determine active sites, i.e. sites that interact with other molecules, such as chitin, and predicting from these active sites smaller fragments and/or mimetopes that retain and/or mimic these active sites, thereby inhibiting chitinase activity; screening of peptide or small chemical compound libraries against chitinase proteins of the present invention; and screening of polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies to find antibodies that specifically bind chitinase proteins of the present invention.
A chitinase inhibitor of the present invention is identified by its ability to bind to, modify, or otherwise interact with, a flea chitinase protein, thereby inhibiting the activity of chitinase. Suitable inhibitors of chitinase activity are compounds that inhibit chitinase protein activity in at least one of a variety of ways: (a) by binding to or otherwise interacting with or otherwise modifying the chitin binding i.e. ligand binding site; (b) by binding to or otherwise interacting with or otherwise modifying the chitinase active site, i.e. the active site residues of the chitinase protein that are directly involved breaking down chitin; (c) by binding to the chitinase protein and thus reducing the availability of the chitinase in solution; and (d) by interacting with other regions of the chitinase protein to inhibit chitinase activity, for example, by allosteric interaction.
Flea chitinase inhibitors can be used directly as compounds in compositions of the present invention to treat animals as long as such compounds are not harmful to host animals being treated. Preferred chitinase inhibitors of the present invention include, but are not limited to, flea chitinase substrate analogs, and other molecules that bind to a flea chitinase (e.g., to an allosteric site) in such a manner that chitinase activity of the flea chitinase is inhibited. A chitinase substrate analog refers to a compound that interacts with (e.g., binds to, associates with, modifies) the active site of an chitinase protein. A preferred chitinase substrate analog inhibits chitinase activity. Chitinase substrate analogs can be of any inorganic or organic composition. Chitinase substrate analogs can be, but need not be, structurally similar to a chitinase natural substrate as long as they can interact with the active site of that chitinase protein. Chitinase substrate analogs can be designed using computer-generated structures of chitinase proteins of the present invention or computer structures of chitinase""s natural substrates. Preferred sites to model include one or more of the active sites of chitinase proteins. Substrate analogs can also be obtained by generating random samples of molecules, such as oligonucleotides, peptides, peptidomimetic compounds, or other inorganic or organic molecules, and screening such samples for their ability to interfere with interaction between chitin and chitinase, e.g. by affinity chromatography techniques. A preferred chitinase substrate analog is a chitinase mimetic compound, i.e., a compound that is structurally and/or functionally similar to a natural substrate of an chitinase of the present invention, particularly to the region of the substrate that interacts with the chitinase active site, but that inhibits chitinase activity upon interacting with the chitinase active site.
The present invention also includes a therapeutic composition comprising at least one protective molecule of the present invention in combination with at least one additional compound protective against one or more infectious agents.
In one embodiment, a therapeutic composition of the present invention can be used to protect an animal from flea infestation by administering such composition to a flea in order to prevent infestation. Such administration to the flea and/or animal could be oral, or by application to the animal""s body surface (e.g. topical spot-on, or spraying onto the animal), or by application to the environment (e.g., spraying). Examples of such compositions include, but are not limited to, transgenic vectors capable of producing at least one therapeutic composition of the present invention. In another embodiment a flea can ingest therapeutic compositions, or products thereof, present on the surface of or in the blood of a host animal that has been administered a therapeutic composition of the present invention.
In accordance with the present invention, a host animal (i.e., an animal that is or is capable of being infested with fleas) is treated by administering to the animal a therapeutic composition of the present invention in such a manner that the composition itself (e.g., a chitinase inhibitor, a chitinase synthesis suppressor (i.e., a compound that decreases the production or half-life of chitinase in fleas), a chitinase mimetope, or a anti-chitinase or antibody) or a product generated by the animal in response to administration of the composition (e.g., antibodies produced in response to administration of a flea chitinase protein or nucleic acid molecule, or conversion of an inactive inhibitor xe2x80x9cprodrugxe2x80x9d to an active chitinase inhibitor) ultimately enters the flea. A host animal is preferably treated in such a way that the compound or product thereof is present on the body surface of the animal or enters the blood stream of the animal. Fleas are then exposed to the composition or product when they feed from the animal. For example, flea chitinase inhibitors administered to an animal are administered in such a way that the inhibitors enter the blood stream of the animal, where they can be taken up by feeding fleas.
The present invention also includes the ability to reduce larval flea infestation in that when fleas feed from a host animal that has been administered a therapeutic composition of the present invention, at least a portion of compounds of the present invention, or products thereof, in the blood taken up by the fleas are excreted by the fleas in feces, which is subsequently ingested by flea larvae. In particular, it is of note that flea larvae obtain most, if not all, of their nutrition from flea feces.
In accordance with the present invention, reducing chitinase activity in a flea can lead to a number of outcomes that reduce flea burden on treated animals and their surrounding environments. Such outcomes include, but are not limited to, (a) reducing the viability of fleas that feed from the treated animal, (b) reducing the fecundity of female fleas that feed from the treated animal, (c) reducing the reproductive capacity of male fleas that feed from the treated animal, (d) reducing the viability of eggs laid by female fleas that feed from the treated animal, (e) altering the blood feeding behavior of fleas that feed from the treated animal (e.g., fleas take up less volume per feeding or feed less frequently), (f) reducing the viability of flea larvae, for example due to the feeding of larvae from feces of fleas that feed from the treated animal, (g) altering the development of flea larvae (e.g., by decreasing feeding behavior, inhibiting growth, inhibiting (e.g., slowing or blocking) molting, and/or otherwise inhibiting maturation to adults), and/or (h) altering or decreasing the ability of fleas or flea larvae to digest a blood meal.
In order to protect an animal from flea infestation, a therapeutic composition of the present invention is administered to the animal in an effective manner such that the composition is capable of protecting that animal from flea infestation. Therapeutic compositions of the present invention can be administered to animals prior to infestation in order to prevent infestation (i.e., as a preventative vaccine) and/or can be administered to animals after infestation. For example, proteins, mimetopes thereof, and antibodies thereof can be used as immunotherapeutic agents.
Therapeutic compositions of the present invention can be formulated in an excipient that the animal to be treated can tolerate. Examples of such excipients include water, saline, Ringer""s solution, dextrose solution, Hank""s solution, and other aqueous physiologically balanced salt solutions. Nonaqueous vehicles, such as fixed oils, sesame oil, ethyl oleate, or triglycerides may also be used. Other useful formulations include suspensions containing viscosity enhancing agents, such as sodium carboxymethylcellulose, sorbitol, or dextran. Excipients can also contain minor amounts of additives, such as substances that enhance isotonicity and chemical stability. Examples of buffers include phosphate buffer, bicarbonate buffer and Tris buffer, while examples of preservatives include thimerosal, or o-cresol, formalin and benzyl alcohol. Standard formulations can either be liquid injectables or solids which can be taken up in a suitable liquid as a suspension or solution for injection. Thus, in a non-liquid formulation, the excipient can comprise dextrose, human serum albumin, preservatives, etc., to which sterile water or saline can be added prior to administration.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a therapeutic composition can include an adjuvant. Adjuvants are agents that are capable of enhancing the immune response of an animal to a specific antigen. Suitable adjuvants include, but are not limited to, cytokines, chemokines, and compounds that induce the production of cytokines and chemokines (e.g., granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), Flt-3 ligand, granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), macrophage colony stimulating factor (M-CSF), colony stimulating factor (CSF), erythropoietin (EPO), interleukin 2 (IL-2), interleukin-3 (IL-3), interleukin 4 (IL-4), interleukin 5 (IL-5), interleukin 6 (IL-6), interleukin 7 (IL-7), interleukin 8 (IL-8), interleukin 10 (IL-10), interleukin 12 (IL-12), interferon gamma, interferon gamma inducing factor I (IGIF), transforming growth factor beta, RANTES (regulated upon activation, normal T cell expressed and presumably secreted), macrophage inflammatory proteins (e.g., MIP-1 alpha and MIP-1 beta), and Leishmania elongation initiating factor (LEIF)); bacterial components (e.g., endotoxins, in particular superantigens, exotoxins and cell wall components); aluminum-based salts; calcium-based salts; silica; polynucleotides; toxoids; serum proteins, viral coat proteins; block copolymer adjuvants (e.g., Hunter""s Titermax(trademark) adjuvant (Vaxcel(trademark), Inc. Norcross, Ga.), Ribi adjuvants (Ribi ImmunoChem Research, Inc., Hamilton, Mont.); and saponins and their derivatives (e.g., Quil A (Superfos Biosector A/S, Denmark). Protein adjuvants of the present invention can be delivered in the form of the protein themselves or of nucleic acid molecules encoding such proteins using the methods described herein.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a therapeutic composition can include a carrier. Carriers include compounds that increase the half-life of a therapeutic composition in the treated animal. Suitable carriers include, but are not limited to, polymeric controlled release vehicles, biodegradable implants, liposomes, bacteria, viruses, other cells, oils, esters, and glycols.
One embodiment of the present invention is a controlled release formulation that is capable of slowly releasing a composition of the present invention into an animal. As used herein, a controlled release formulation comprises a composition of the present invention in a controlled release vehicle. Suitable controlled release vehicles include, but are not limited to, biocompatible polymers, other polymeric matrices, capsules, microcapsules, microparticles, bolus preparations, osmotic pumps, diffusion devices, liposomes, lipospheres, and transdermal delivery systems. Other controlled release formulations of the present invention include liquids that, upon administration to an animal, form a solid or a gel in situ. Preferred controlled release formulations are biodegradable (i.e., bioerodible).
A preferred controlled release formulation of the present invention is capable of releasing a composition of the present invention into the blood of the treated animal at a constant rate sufficient to attain therapeutic dose levels of the composition to protect an animal from flea infestation. The therapeutic composition is preferably released over a period of time ranging from about 1 to about 12 months. A controlled release formulation of the present invention is capable of effecting a treatment preferably for at least about 1 month, more preferably for at least about 3 months, even more preferably for at least about 6 months, even more preferably for at least about 9 months, and even more preferably for at least about 12 months.
Acceptable protocols to administer therapeutic compositions in an effective manner include individual dose size, number of doses, frequency of dose administration, and mode of administration. Determination of such protocols can be accomplished by those skilled in the art. A suitable single dose is a dose that is capable of protecting an animal from disease when administered one or more times over a suitable time period. For example, a preferred single dose of a protein, mimetope or antibody therapeutic composition, including a recombinant protein vaccine, is from about 1 microgram (xcexcg) to about 10 milligrams (mg) of the therapeutic composition per kilogram body weight of the animal. Booster vaccinations can be administered from about 2 weeks to several years after the original administration. Booster administrations preferably are administered when the immune response of the animal becomes insufficient to protect the animal from disease. A preferred administration schedule is one in which from about 10 xcexcg to about 1 mg of the therapeutic composition per kg body weight of the animal is administered from about one to about two times over a time period of from about 2 weeks to about 12 months. Modes of administration can include, but are not limited to, subcutaneous, intradermal, intravenous, intranasal, oral, transdermal, intraocular, intranasal, conjunctival, and intramuscular routes. Methods of administration for other therapeutic compounds can be determined by one skilled in the art, and may include administration of a therapeutic composition one or more times, on a daily, weekly, monthly or yearly regimen; routes of administration can be determined by one skilled in the art, and may include any route. A preferred route of administration of an inhibitory compound when administering to fleas is a topical, or xe2x80x9cspot-onxe2x80x9d formulation administered to the body surface of the animal, so that a flea would encounter the inhibitory compound when attached to the animal; another preferred route of administration of an inhibitory compound is an oral formulation that, when fed to an animal, would enter the bloodstream of the animal, which would then be transferred to a flea while feeding from the animal.
A recombinant protein vaccine of the present invention comprises a recombinantly-produced flea chitinase protein of the present invention that is administered to an animal according to a protocol that results in the animal producing a sufficient immune response to protect itself from a flea infestation. Such protocols can be determined by those skilled in the art.
According to one embodiment, a nucleic acid molecule of the present invention can be administered to an animal in a fashion to enable expression of that nucleic acid molecule into a protective protein or protective RNA (e.g., antisense RNA, ribozyme, triple helix forms or RNA drug) in the animal. Nucleic acid molecules can be delivered to an animal in a variety of methods including, but not limited to, (a) administering a naked (i.e., not packaged in a viral coat or cellular membrane) nucleic acid as a genetic vaccine (e.g., as naked DNA or RNA molecules, such as is taught, for example in Wolff et al., 1990, Science 247, 1465-1468) or (b) administering a nucleic acid molecule packaged as a recombinant virus vaccine or as a recombinant cell vaccine (i.e., the nucleic acid molecule is delivered by a viral or cellular vehicle).
A genetic (i.e., naked nucleic acid) vaccine of the present invention includes a nucleic acid molecule of the present invention and preferably includes a recombinant molecule of the present invention that preferably is replication, or otherwise amplification, competent. A genetic vaccine of the present invention can comprise one or more nucleic acid molecules of the present invention in the form of, for example, a dicistronic recombinant molecule. Preferred genetic vaccines include at least a portion of a viral genome, i.e., a viral vector. Preferred viral vectors include those based on alphaviruses, poxviruses, adenoviruses, herpesviruses, picornaviruses, and retroviruses, with those based on alphaviruses, such as sindbis or Semliki forest virus, species-specific herpesviruses and poxviruses being particularly preferred. Any suitable transcription control sequence can be used, including those disclosed as suitable for protein production. Particularly preferred transcription control sequences include cytomegalovirus immediate early (preferably in conjunction with Intron-A), Rous sarcoma virus long terminal repeat, and tissue-specific transcription control sequences, as well as transcription control sequences endogenous to viral vectors if viral vectors are used. The incorporation of a xe2x80x9cstrongxe2x80x9d polyadenylation signal is also preferred.
Genetic vaccines of the present invention can be administered in a variety of ways, with intramuscular, subcutaneous, intradermal, transdermal, conjunctival, intraocular, intranasal and oral routes of administration being preferred. A preferred single dose of a genetic vaccine ranges from about 1 nanogram (ng) to about 600 xcexcg, depending on the route of administration and/or method of delivery, as can be determined by those skilled in the art. Suitable delivery methods include, for example, by injection, as drops, aerosolized and/or topically. Genetic vaccines of the present invention can be contained in an aqueous excipient (e.g., phosphate buffered saline) alone or in a carrier (e.g., lipid-based vehicles).
A recombinant virus vaccine of the present invention includes a recombinant molecule of the present invention that is packaged in a viral coat and that can be expressed in an animal after administration. Preferably, the recombinant molecule is packaging- or replication-deficient and/or encodes an attenuated virus. A number of recombinant viruses can be used, including, but not limited to, those based on alphaviruses, poxviruses, adenoviruses, herpesviruses, picornaviruses, and retroviruses. Preferred recombinant virus vaccines are those based on alphaviruses (such as Sindbis virus), raccoon poxviruses, species-specific herpesviruses and species-specific poxviruses. An example of methods to produce and use alphavirus recombinant virus vaccines are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,766,602 to Xiong and Grieve, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
When administered to an animal, a recombinant virus vaccine of the present invention infects cells within the immunized animal and directs the production of a protective protein or RNA nucleic acid molecule that is capable of protecting the animal from flea infestation as disclosed herein. For example, a recombinant virus vaccine comprising a flea chitinase nucleic acid molecule of the present invention is administered according to a protocol that results in the animal producing a sufficient immune response to protect itself from flea infestation. A preferred single dose of a recombinant virus vaccine of the present invention is from about 1xc3x97104 to about 1xc3x97108 virus plaque forming units (pfu) per kilogram body weight of the animal. Administration protocols are similar to those described herein for protein-based vaccines, with subcutaneous, intramuscular, intranasal, intraocular, conjunctival, and oral administration routes being preferred.
A recombinant cell vaccine of the present invention includes recombinant cells of the present invention that express at least one protein of the present invention. Preferred recombinant cells for this embodiment include Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria, Mycobacterium, S. frugiperda, yeast, (including Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pichia pastoris), BHK, CV-1, myoblast G8, COS (e.g., COS-7), Vero, MDCK and CRFK recombinant cells. Recombinant cell vaccines of the present invention can be administered in a variety of ways but have the advantage that they can be administered orally, preferably at doses ranging from about 108 to about 1012 cells per kilogram body weight. Administration protocols are similar to those described herein for protein-based vaccines. Recombinant cell vaccines can comprise whole cells, cells stripped of cell walls or cell lysates.
The efficacy of a therapeutic composition of the present invention to protect an animal from flea infestation can be tested in a variety of ways including, but not limited to, detection of protective antibodies (using, for example, proteins or mimetopes of the present invention), detection of cellular immunity within the treated animal, or challenge of the treated animal with the fleas to determine whether the treated animal is resistant to infestation. Challenge studies can include direct administration of fleas to the treated animal. In one embodiment, therapeutic compositions can be tested in animal models such as mice. Such techniques are known to those skilled in the art.
One therapeutic composition of the present invention includes an inhibitor of flea chitinase activity, i.e., a compound capable of substantially interfering with the function of a flea chitinase susceptible to inhibition by an inhibitor of flea chitinase activity. An inhibitor of chitinase activity can be identified using flea chitinase proteins of the present invention. An inhibitor of chitinase function can be identified using flea chitinase proteins of the present invention. A preferred inhibitor of chitinase function is a compound capable of substantially interfering with the function of a flea chitinase protein and which does not substantially interfere with host animal proteins. As used herein, a compound that does not substantially inhibit or interfere with host animal proteins is one that, when administered to a host animal, the host animal shows no significant adverse effects attributable to the compound and which, when administered to an animal in an effective manner, is capable of protecting that animal from flea infestation.
One embodiment of the present invention is a method to identify a compound capable of inhibiting chitinase activity of a flea. Such a method includes the steps of (a) contacting (e.g., combining, mixing) an isolated flea chitinase protein, preferably a C. felis chitinase protein of the present invention, with a putative inhibitory compound under conditions in which, in the absence of the compound, the protein has chitinase activity, and (b) determining if the putative inhibitory compound inhibits the activity. Chitinase activity can be determined in a variety of ways known in the art, including but not limited to determining the ability of chitinase to bind to or otherwise interact with chitin and/or hydrolyze chitin into chitobiose. Such conditions under which a chitinase protein has chitinase activity include conditions in which a chitinase has a correct three-dimensionally folded structure under physiologic conditions, i.e. physiologic pH, physiologic ionic concentrations, and physiologic temperatures.
Putative inhibitory compounds to screen include antibodies (including fragments and mimetopes thereof), putative substrate analogs, and other, preferably small, organic or inorganic molecules. Methods to determine chitinase activity are known to those skilled in the art; see, for example, the Examples section of the present application. Methods to determine binding of a putative inhibitory compound to a chitinase protein of the present invention are known to those of skill in the art and include, for example, determining changes in molecular mass using surface plasmon resonance (e.g., determining light scatter by an inhibitor of a chitinase protein, before and after contacting the inhibitor or protein with a chitinase protein or inhibitor, respectively) or screening for compounds that inhibit interaction between chitin and chitinase.
A preferred method to identify a compound capable of inhibiting chitinase activity includes contacting an isolated flea chitinase protein having an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of: (a) a protein comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:5, SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:14, SEQ ID NO:17, and SEQ ID NO:26; (b) a protein comprising an at least 25 consecutive amino acid portion identical in sequence to a consecutive amino acid portion of a sequence as set forth in (a), wherein the protein has chitinase activity; (c) a protein comprising a fragment of a protein as set forth in (a), wherein the fragment has an activity selected from the group consisting of binding to a chitin molecule and hydrolyzing a chitin molecule; and (d) a protein encoded by an allelic variant of a nucleic acid molecule that encodes any protein of (a), (b), or (c), with a putative inhibitory compound under conditions in which, in the absence of the compound, the protein has chitinase activity; and determining if the putative inhibitory compound inhibits the activity.
Another embodiment of the present invention is an assay kit to identify an inhibitor of a flea chitinase of the present invention. This kit comprises an isolated flea chitinase of the present invention, and a means for determining inhibition of an activity of flea chitinase, where the means enables detection of inhibition. Detection of inhibition of flea chitinase identifies a putative inhibitor to be an inhibitor of flea chitinase. Means for determining inhibition of flea chitinase include an assay system that detects binding of a putative inhibitor to a flea chitinase molecule, and an assay system that detects interference by a putative inhibitor of the ability of flea chitinase to hydrolyze a chitin molecule. Means and methods are described herein and are known to those skilled in the art.